


secrets kept

by brandywine421



Series: Brainstorms For Later [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 13:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: "Matthew, can I ask you a personal question?"He inclined his head in silent permission, curious."You never talk about your father's...heritage."





	secrets kept

**Author's Note:**

> Just spitballing here. Leaving the web for a few days and figured I'd let this marinate over here.

  
"Matthew, can I ask you a personal question?"

He inclined his head in silent permission, curious.

"You never talk about your father's...heritage."

"You're Irish, too, aren't you?" Matt replied, deliberately missing her point. "I never bothered doing a family tree for school, since most of my education was through the orphanage."

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Enlighten me," he said. This is bigger than a 'personal question'.

"Your father was a Shifter - "

He held up his hand and she bit down on the rest of her words. "He didn't tell you. Father Lantom, maybe, but not you." Her pulse fluttered at being caught out and he patted her knee. "I know you hate talking about Dad so why are you bringing this up?"

She crossed her hands on her lap. "Paul handled the...unusual requests. Exorcisms, hauntings, changelings - I've got experience and protocol for that but Shapeshifters - "

"I'm not a Shapeshifter. And neither was Dad," Matt cut her off before she misspoke again. "Who approached you?"

"Father Flaherty," she replied, vibrating with bottled questions he wouldn't answer. "I won't burden you with his request if you don't have anything to add. Are you mixed up with any Shifters - "

"I can't confirm that," he said and waited for her to continue.

His father had always made it very clear that they were not Shapeshifters.

"One of Father Flaherty's parishioners put out a gentle query to see if there were any more of his kind nearby and he said Father Lantom had one under his protection."

He didn't expect that. "Father Lantom - "

"You know quite well how many of our orphans are considered 'normal'. Even if we don't file their adaptations in full with the government, we try to find local mentors or social groups when we can," Sister Maggie said.

He knew that, in theory, from his training with Stick. He'd assumed it was because he was a blind man, but it explained why Stick was so disappointed that Matt wouldn't Shift.

"I'll tell Father Flaherty that I don't know all the secrets he thinks and he won't bother us about it again," Maggie said.

"No. I'll do a meet and greet. You've got me curious now."

Sister Maggie huffed. "Funny about that."

"Do you want to rephrase your personal question, I'll give you another shot at it," Matt offered.

"No, keep your secrets," she sighed.

"Dad said we're allowed one confidant outside of the bloodline," Matt said carefully. "And that his father and grandfather used their priest so Father Lantom makes sense."

"And you?" she asked but her rapid heartbeat at the accidental outburst made him smile. "With Father Lantom gone - "

"Foggy's always held my secret, that one, at least."

 

* * *

 

"Double D, stop," Foggy said and he immediately focused in and not out. "Tell me what you think - but be aware they're probably listening because we're levelling up to twelve here."

Twelve? "Ten's a trap, so what's twelve?"

_"Daredevil. Um. We thought we were just meeting an old guy. We'll wait over here, but please don't call the cops. Shut up, Bucky, he's not a demon, I know, be nice...I promise we're not villains."_

"It's the ex-Captain Americas," Foggy whispered. "You know."

Huh. Barnes must think Daredevil's a benevolent demon like most of the public so Steve Rogers must have been the one that put out the 'query'.

"Prove it," Matt called and Foggy squeezed his elbow in support, or else eagerness for autographs but Matt wasn't about to argue right now.

A soft gurgle of a growl drifted across the roof and something unfurled in his chest. His father used to make that sound, a private lullaby just between the two of them when the rest of the world got too loud.

 _"What are you doing, are you making faces at him?"_ Barnes hissed.

_"I'm doing the 'hello, don't bite me' thing that Ma taught me, go loom over there, it's my turn to be weird."_

Matt wished Foggy could hear the hushed conversation so he'd either raise or lower his expectations of a hero. But the growl had lit a fire under his long-buried questions of his father's history.

"He proved it. Come on, I think it's okay," Matt said, leading Foggy across the roof to the source of the growl. Captain America had a tinge of 'science' to his scent and the Winter Soldier was, surprisingly foreign and feline for the stories he remembered.

But the rumble-growl was too familiar to be a fluke and when Steve held out his hand, wrist out, he leaned in for a 'traditional' sniff as greeting. Captain America was an Irish Werewolf. "Faoladh," he said.

"No one does that anymore!" Barnes called unhelpfully from the opposite corner of the roof.

"I'm so sorry," Steve said, audibly smiling. "Please excuse Bucky's manners." He lapsed into a rapid fire language that Matt didn't recognize.

"Oh, he's not that Irish, Sir, Captain. This is Daredevil and I'm Foggy Nelson, his lawyer."

"Shit. Sorry. It was a longshot, but you're - you're like me, aren't you?"

Matt nodded. Goddammit.

 

* * *

 

"I've only Changed once since I got the serum," Steve said. "I'm not a hulking monster of a wolf, nothing like my man-shape. My essence is still a quick and tiny scrap of a wolf that goes for the throat. Ma's bloodline were the scouts and the spies, small and fast. My father was supposed to go into the Priesthood, it was a deal made centuries before where one wolf per village would represent the pack within the church."

"Is that relevant?" Barnes muttered from his failed silent observation several yards closer than their initial introductions.

"For anyone else, I'd agree with your partner, but it's relevant," Foggy said. Matt knew Foggy was listening closer than he let on.

Steve relaxed a tic and the air settled. "Ma married a mortal, Joseph Rogers, and made it to Brooklyn before I was born. She didn't have a pack here, the Faoladh didn't immigrate in groups until after the first World War. She told me about it, and how important it was for me to introduce myself to the local wolves if I ever scented a mark of protection."

"I haven't - " he hesitated.

Bucky snorted roughly. "Steve froze like he'd seen a tripwire when we hit Hell's Kitchen."

"It's not a conscious thing," Steve said quietly. "Faoladh are protectors, guardians. I hadn't run into a border like that since the 40's so I had a little - "

"He waved his hand like he's flipping out," Foggy explained. Matt reached up and pulled his mask up and held out his hand. Foggy dropped his glasses into his palm. "Guess you're doing this now."

"Oh. Oh! That makes a lot of sense," Steve said, his voice bright with a smile.

"What kind of sense?" Foggy asked, immediately defensive.

"His instincts are always on even though he's never gone Wolf," Bucky said, stalking over to lean into Steve's space and warily sniff the air. "Magic can't do that, what kind of weird science lab made you?"

He tilted his head and Foggy sighed. "Chemical truck hit him when he was a kid and messed up his eyes."

"Dad said most of our bloodline was killed off by the Irish mob when his grandparents came over. He'd never shifted, told me it was too dangerous. Foggy's the only person I've ever told," Matt said.

"Your mom didn't know?" Foggy asked Matt directly.

"They never tell their mortal mates, it's a rule," Steve replied, scandalized.

"What he said," Matt smiled.

"Christ," Bucky cursed. "I guess we're doing this now. Roof access is over here to our place, I need a drink."

* * *

 

 

 


End file.
